Platinum coin petition signed by 6,000

A White House petition to mint platinum $1 trillion coins to avert a debt ceiling fight and pay the national debt has more than 6,000 signatures in the week since it launched.

“With the creation and Treasury deposit of a new platinum coin with a value of $1 trillion US Dollars, we would avert the absurd-yet-imminent debt ceiling faceoff in Congress in two quick and simple steps!” the petition states. “While this may seem like an unnecessarily extreme measure, it is no more absurd than playing political football with the US — and global — economy at stake.”

Text Size

-

+

reset

The proposal needs about 19,000 more signatures before Feb. 2 to reach the requisite 25,000 threshold and prompt a White House response. The idea has won support among high-profile economist Paul Krugman and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.).

“It would normally not be proper to consider such a thing, except when you’re faced with blackmail to destroy the country’s economy, you have to consider things,” Nadler said.

On Monday, Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) introduced a bill to bar the U.S. Treasury, with the president’s orders, from minting the platinum coins.

“This scheme to mint trillion dollar platinum coins is absurd and dangerous, and would be laughable if the proponents weren’t so serious about it as a solution,” Walden said in a statement.

wait...this is a serious proposal? i thought the local radio goons were enterepting a rediculous make believe scenario. who are these idiots that thought this up???..We are 17ish trillion in debt and counting... how can we even contemplate as a treasury to "mint" any "coin" that is "worth" a trillion dollars when we dont have the treasury resources to back it up, much less the GDP and economic growth to even get close to knocking 1 trillion off the current deficit, much less the national debt?...More yet...how is the rest of the world..which is tied to our economy...going to accept that as valid payment on our debts? especially when the "platinum" is really a "nickel" plated covering over a pewter disk? .....Here China...here is a few "trillion dollar coins" we just "made" in the garage...(chuckling under the breath)...it is "real" we promise...go ahead and deposit in your account and mark our debt "paid in full"...oh and can you "make" some change? we still need to pay Japan, Russia, and North Korea...

That way we'd all be trillionaires and the Great Society's War on Poverty would finally be over!

Seriously though, they seem to forget that a fiat currency is only worth anything if peope believe it has value - on faith and faith alone. That's shaky. Gimmicks like trillion dollar coins completely destroy that faith.

It is sad that things have come to this but with the alternative is to let the Republicans in the house hold America hostage, (again). The idea seems a lot more reasonable in that light. I don't like it but we can not allow this to keep happening. The consequences are too dire and I, for one, don't trust them to act responsibly anymore. They are conducting themselves like terrorists with bombs strapped to their chests, making demands. It simply cannot be tolerated!